Vary the Reload Rates....

[SmokinLoon]

I was doing some reading these past few hours on the tank battles of WWII, and much ado was made of the differences the training and experience of a tank crew and how it effected the actual performance of the tank.  No surprise there.  Then I got to thinking of AH and how some of the vehicles are same-same in areas in which the players have no control over.  Players can fly or drive and they can aim and fire the weapons.  The computer controls the reload times of the tank guns.  Since players are not able to flip levers, grab shells, load cannons, etc, it is understandable that the action of reloading the tank gun is automated. 

I simply propose to change the reload rates on the main guns of the tanks every so often to imitate the effectiveness of well trained or well experienced crew.  I have 2 printed sources that reference actual WWII German military documentation on the Panther's rate of fire being between 6 and 10 rounds a minute.  In AH, the reload rate is spot on at 6 seconds (obviously AH Panthers are stocked with well trained and experienced crews  ).  Other tanks are no different, I'd be willing to bet that the same T34/76 crew that had an average reload rate of 8 seconds in 1942 was a bit less in 1945.  Same goes for the veteran Panzer IV and Sherman crew.  Yeah, it might throw the ENY rating off a wee bit, but I'm betting not much more than 5 points either way.

     

[Imowface]

I think it would be neat to see perked tank crews, Ie pay a little more for a veteran crew to get faster reload times, also, let us open the driver hatches while driving as the T-34's are at the biggest dissadvantage when it comes to driver veiws

[SmokinLoon]

I think it would be neat to see perked tank crews, Ie pay a little more for a veteran crew to get faster reload times, also, let us open the driver hatches while driving as the T-34's are at the biggest dissadvantage when it comes to driver veiws

You know that you can put your head up and out of the tanks, yes? Just simply use the same keys as you would change the views in your aircraft.  Then hit F10 to hold them there. 

[Imowface]

try poking your head up in a T34 as far as I know it cant be done, but in everyother tank it can, and the driver did not come out of the tank he just oppened the hatch

[kvuo75]

try poking your head up in a T34 as far as I know it cant be done, but in everyother tank it can, and the driver did not come out of the tank he just oppened the hatch
(Image removed from quote.)

try forward instead of up.. my t34 driver view is just like any other tank.

[Jayhawk]

-1

There is going to be variation based on experience in all aspects of the game, but that doesn't mean it should be modeled as a random activity.  I guess I just don't understand how this would add anything to the game but grief.

[ImADot]

I have spent many countless hours and cases of booze to properly train my tank crew.  I've turned them into the crack team they are today; if I got a crew of n00bs fumbling around trying to reload my main gun, I'll quit the game. 

[PFactorDave]

If you really want load time variation, why not just make a system where the player has to mouse and click on a series of things to reload.  Then the guys who GV a lot will be faster reloading then those of us who almost never GV

[choker41]

-1  I hear enough whines that DR7 or Gravy1 (insert your nemesis here) have uber tanks.  As I see it you have the same chance to shoot these guys down the way it is.  If i get a slower reload time I'm going to start whining on 200 and we don't need that.  Leave the reload times the same cause I want the same chance to shoot down whomever it is shooting at me. 

[AWwrgwy]

"Typical" mechanical failures are not modeled nor should physical failures be.



wrongway

[SectorNine50]

<hijack>AWwrgwy, what is the little gif animation in your sig from?  It looks like Monty Python, but I can't be sure.</hijack>

[clerick]

<hijack>AWwrgwy, what is the little gif animation in your sig from?  It looks like Monty Python, but I can't be sure.</hijack>

Pretty sure it's from the movie "Kelly's Heros."

[Dadsguns]

-1

You would also have to apply this to CV guns, 50 Cal guns as well since they had to be head spaced and timed and would vary in rate of fire if not correctly done, so that too would be a big -1.

[guncrasher]

not a good idea, it puts new players at a disadvantage on an otherwise hard game to learn to begin with.  my first few months, i spent as a tanker or a buff driver, those were the easiest things to do.  later i moved to fiters, but i came here with the idea to learn the game since i had friends from aw.  new guys are not as lucky.


semp

[SmokinLoon]

i guess I did not explain this very well in my original post.  The varied reload rates would be the same for each tank, but they would change slightly every tour or every couple of tours.  For instance, right now the M4A3 reload at 3.6 seconds.  Why not make the reload rates at 4 or 4.1 for a tour?  The Panzer IV reloads at 4.2 seconds, why not make it 3.9 for a tour or 2?  The Panther reloads at 6 seconds (reportedly the best its crews could muster), why not make it 6.5?  Etc Etc.  I did not mean make each tank different at random.

On that note, one would think that all of the tank crews in early war were slower loaders than that of the mid and late war crews.  Early war T34/76 and M4/75mm crews could/should in theory reload slower than those later in the war.  Food for thought, I guess.